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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

How to: Make your own healing salve

Hello! I hope you all had the beautifulest of weekends and a happy mamas day. Ours here was a good one, made better by so much thoughtfulness from family and friends. Mother's Day is a hard one for me. Even though I was blessed by having one of the most wonderful mothers in the world, our own struggle with infertility has felt emotionally overwhelming at times. This year my family and friends made me feel special and so loved, and made me forget the hurt that this day triggers. It was wonderful.

Well, now onto this post. I have been making my own salve for a few months now and I love it. It all started with the need to find something to soothe my severe eczema flare ups, especially on my hands. This salve does the trick for me and I use it continuously throughout the day. I just replaced my everyday hand lotion with this and it has worked wonders. I also use it on my other flare up spots and it helps tremendously. My husband has even started using it, and loves it. This salve is also really great for cuts, scrapes, rashes, and cold sores. Here is what you will need to make your own salve.

Step 1~Take your herbs and your oil and mix them together in a sealed glass jar. Give them a good shake and let them sit. I let mine infuse for up to two weeks. Just make sure they are in a cool, dark place and give them a good shake everyday. This lets the goodness of the herbs soak into the oil.

Step 2~ After your herbs have soaked, you are going to want to strain your oil. I use a large glass measuring cup covered with cheesecloth and a rubber band. I let them sit for 15-20 minutes to make sure all the herby oil has drained down. Now you can remove the solids, I always give them a good squeeze. You want all the yummy oil you can get.

Step 3~ Take your saucepan and double boiler and bring some water to a boil. After it boils I turn it down a bit. Take your double boiler, and place on top. I bought my makeshift double boiler off of Amazon for $4 versus a real double boiler running around $30.

Step 4~Dump your strained oil and your beeswax into your double boiler. You are going to want to mix and give it a good stir. Mix every couple minutes until everything is nice and melted together. I use beeswax granules since they melt faster. If you are using bars of beeswax I would chop them up or grate them a bit first.

Step 5~Once everything is nice and melted together, I dump everything back into my large glass measuring cup. This is the step where you are going to add your essential oils. I use about 10 drops of each, but customize it to how you like it. You are going to want to do this step fairly fast, since everything will start to solidify pretty quickly.

Step 6~Once you have mixed everything thoroughly you are ready to pour into your jars or containers.

Step 7~After pouring your jars, let cool for 20-30 minutes before putting on lids. This recipe fills around 6 4oz. jars. The consistency of this recipe is completely up to you. The way I make it, you can spread easily out of the container. You can mess with the beeswax amounts and add more if you want it more solid or less if you want it softer. Remember, if it doesn't come out the first time like you want it, you can always dump everything back into your double boiler and melt back down and adjust measurements.

Enjoy!

*Most common herbs and oils can be found in bulk at your local health food store. If you can't find any, my favorite online resources are Bulk Apothecary and Mountain Rose Herbs.

Love this! The one I made was straight up comfrey, but I think next time I will try your blend, especially given your positive feedback re: your eczema! Also, will definitely check out your herbal supplier suggestions!

So moved to hear about all the love and positivity you received on Momma's Day! XO

This combo has really worked for me, I think the calendula flowers really help. I also have tried it with a couple of different oils, and sweet almond oil works the best for my skin. Let me know if you try it and tell me what you think. xo

Hey Hollie,It's Dawn from IG (sunshinepoppies) :)I wanted to share with you what I learned in the last few years about skin health. Severe eczema or any type of eczema at all is controlled by diet and what we are eating and absorbing into our skin. Our skin is a marker for our total health and is completely reflective of the health of your insides.I find it hard to not share what I have learned and when I know people are suffering for whatever reason, I find it almost impossible! If you are wanting to hear more about my journey or what I think you could do right away to help, I'd love to exchange email and or numbers.Please know if you are not interested or wanting to hear more, it's OK and I won't be offended.Hugs,D :)

Hi Dawn! I would love that. I have met with a naturopath and have made some dietary changes, but I am still getting flare ups, particularly when the weather changes rapidly. I would love to chat. My email is Hollie27@cox.net

Hello Hollie. I am new to your blog and was directed (guided) here through livewellandbreatheblogspot. I do not believe anything is by 'Chance.'Your blog looks lovely. After reading your most recent post, I would like to share with you a little of my past experience with infertility. I know how difficult that road is. I 'tried' for several years to conceive and nothing happened. The years rolled by. As the clock ticked, as my anxiety mounted, further testing revealed I had blockage in my fallopian tubes. I chose to go for an invasive surgery that could 'open' my tubes, but may also, cause the tiny opening to 'close.' At this point, I was ready to try anything to conceive. The surgery, performed in Van (Dr. Rowe) did not work. Several years after the surgery, my husband & I decided to go the 'all out' route and try Invitro. We did this intensive, expensive procedure twice, to no avail. A few sad and discouraging years following this, we chose to put our names in for adoption. I was bound & determined to have a child one way or another and knew my life would feel incomplete without one. For the very 1st time in years I felt relieved and content; I was going to be a "Mom," after all. Well, out of the blue, I missed my period. For once, I wasn't stewing and fretting about it. (I had been counting the days following any missed period for years, with a fevered anticipation: "maybe I am pregnant this time!") As the days rolled by, 8 days, I mentioned it to my husband. He told me to take a pregnancy test. I thought quietly to myself,"no, I am tired of taking those home tests that come out negative." But, then, I thought, "what the heck?" Well, I could not believe my eyes when the test showed 'Positive.' It was an unbelievable journey. Even the team of Invitro doctors that had worked with me could hardly believe it! I was 39. yrs. old.I have a beautiful son. He is now 17. He is the greatest gift in my life.I wish you well, Hollie. I know things will work out for you, one way or another.

Hello Kim! This is so encouraging, thank you so much for sharing your story. I love to hear other peoples stories about their paths to motherhood, it makes me feel so hopeful and makes me look forward to when we finally do become parents. Also, thank you for visiting this space! <3

Well...... I finally got the salve made and am very happy about that! I must say that grating the bees wax was a workout and I finally just chopped it up in small chunks and even that was quite a job. I had found a local supplier though so I was pleased with that. I would rather stay local with my ingredients. The finished salve was very hard but we can scrape it out and still use it fine. I am really excited to see how it works! My partner complained of a cold sore when she go home from work tonight so this could be the first test of how it works! Thanks again for the recipe!! Much appreciated! I am now looking for an anti anxiety tincture to make......any ideas??